A centrifugal compressor for a chiller system includes a casing having an inlet portion and an outlet portion, a recirculation structure including a recirculation path and a recirculation discharge cavity, an impeller disposed downstream of the recirculation discharge cavity, the impeller being attached to a shaft rotatable about a shaft rotation axis, a motor arranged to rotate the shaft in order to rotate the impeller, and a diffuser disposed in the outlet portion downstream of the impeller. The recirculation structure is configured and arranged to impart a swirl to a flow of refrigerant into the inlet portion, with a velocity of a recirculation flow caused by the swirl being higher than a velocity of the flow of the refrigerant in the inlet portion.